Celebrity MasterChef Lisa Faulkner lost a STONE through stress while filming the BBC1 show.

And the ex-Holby City actress, 37, who was crowned winner of the series on Friday, hardly slept during filming because she was so nervous.

But Lisa impressed judges John Torode and Greg Wallace so much they have invited her to work at their London restaurants.

She said: "Winning MasterChef did not come easy. I shed a stone over the series - which is strange because the winners usually pile on the pounds. I guess it was the stress of it all, but in some ways I used it to drive me on."

Lisa, who pipped Christine Hamilton and Coast presenter Dick Strawbridge to the title, also found it hard to get to sleep. "I was constantly thinking about food and doing well in the competition," she said.